Hooray for Fireworks!

I did not want to sit around the house on New Year's like a loser. Sorry those of you who chose to spend the end of 2005 that way. I didn't do anything for Halloween and I was not going to spend another holiday sitting around wishing I was doing something festive. Amy did not want to go out because she was wary of the possible drunk drivers after being hit by one last year. I felt bad leaving her alone since we do pretty much everything together lately but I could not bear the thought of staying home.

Gena is housesitting for a family and has full access to their minivan. Ten of us piled into the minivan and set off toward the other side of the island where fireworks were rumored to be found. First we stopped off at a youth group gathering that one of our guys was connected to. I felt pretty awkward being there since I did not know the kids or feel compelled to get to know them for this one-time meeting. I did participate in a weird game where everyone is in a circle holding ropes between each person. There is a trashcan in the middle and the idea is that the people in the circle whip eachother around and try to force a player to touch the trashcan. There is a lot of shimmying, flopping around, and crazy manuevering. It was pretty funny to watch. I was not a very good player with the residual ankle issue. It is frustrating to not be able to play sports even weird ones with circles and trash cans. I did snag some of their food, though. There were also a bunch of fireworks for the kids to play with. This would not be happening with my high school youth group.

After hanging out with high schoolers, we headed to Wailea, a really fancy part of the island. We walked for a long time along the coast and found a great spot to watch the fireworks. We walked out onto the reef which was about 30 feet above the ocean. The waves were really big and powerful, which is unusual for that part of the island. The people we were with had brought little fireworks and were lighting them and tossing them into the ocean. They actually continue to spark in the water and it looks really cool.

The fireworks started and were so close to us. I had never seen fireworks this close. It was like going to the movies and having to sit on the front row. You could barely see it all at once. The fireworks were definitely not the best I had ever seen but the setting was positively ideal. The only thing that would have made it better was if I had been there with a boyfriend or husband. It was cool and I am very glad I did not stay home.